‘Bull Bay can’t do without a station’

It has been two years since the Government announced the impending demolition of the Bull Bay Police Station in St Andrew and indicated that it would be replaced with a modern fit-for-purpose facility.

But with just about three months ahead of the deadline for the completion of the Harbour View to Yallahs section of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project, the Victorian-era building remains the lone structure standing directly in the path of the highway in that area.

During the Standing Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday, opposition legislator Fitz Jackson pressed National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang about the plans in light of the fast-approaching deadline.

Chang stated that the Government was in negotiations with the highway’s contractors, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), but did not say when the station would be demolished.

“We have to build a new station,” he said. “They have paid over some money, not enough to build the station which is among the [issues] in the negotiation.”

However, the minister admitted that a new police station would not be built by June.

He said that in the meantime, the Government will make temporary arrangements to accommodate the officers.

But Jackson found Chang’s response unsatisfactory, arguing that the highway’s impact on the police station should have been given high priority in its planning stages.

“We can’t keep on repeating these obvious failures,” he admonished.

“They knew exactly where the highway was going to go. Are they saying that they didn’t know that the police station was in the way of the highway? That, at this stage now, they are going to make arrangements to accommodate the police?” he asked while demanding a “concrete” response.

“A concrete structure will be built at the same location,” Chang said. “ … Until then, we’ll have to make appropriate arrangements for the police to occupy the same space because enough land is there, too, and it will be before the building is demolished ... . Highway can’t open on top of the station.”

On Thursday, Bull Bay residents expressed concern that the police station is yet to be relocated.

Some, like taxi operator Kemsha Stewart, are anxious about the inaction, wondering how long it would take for the Government to build a new station in the sometimes-volatile community.

“Bull Bay can’t do without a station. A chaos sumn dat. Dem shoulda start build a station long time. Dem deh deh so and look how much tings a gwaan, so wa a go happen when dem nuh deh ya? If a even fi put dem under tent, tarpaulin, sumn till dem get back something,” he said.

Stewart said that the police station in the community also gives him peace of mind.

“Mi love see di police dem a drive up and down mi feel safe fi drive mi car. When mi nuh see dem, mi fret, ‘cause man a tek mi weh, man a rob mi ... . Police haffi deh ya, man,” he said.

Ronald Winder, a 72-year-old resident, was equally concerned, but was less concerned about the inaction so far.

“Mi nuh know wah gwaan, but a government ting so dem wi send hol’ heap a man fi work pon it if dem a build it back ‘cause dem have space behind it,” Winder told The Gleaner.

The St Andrew Eastern Police Division, where Bull Bay is located, recorded nine murders between January 1 and February 28 this year, three fewer than in the corresponding period last year.

Admitting that crime remains a concern in the community, Chang said that the police maintain a strong presence in the area.

“The Bull Bay area police is a very challenging police area. We are aware of that and much of the work out there. In fact, it’s not just the presence of the local station; the special ops team has been regularly out there,” he said on Wednesday.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com